Everywhere I went in Harlem I felt welcome. I began to recognize a kind of hospitality that I hadn’t known before and that I hadn’t found in fine dining. In the Michelin restaurants in France where I trained early in my career, I was taught excellence in ingredients, presentation and manners. But I wasn’t taught the joy and magic I felt walking into the bars and soul food joints in Harlem.

Marcus Samuelsson, chef and owner of The Red Rooster

Read his op-ed, “Is Harlem ‘Good Now'”
New York Times, February 15, 2014